


Mazes in Mazes

by meanderingsoul



Series: Prydonian Misadventures [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gallifrey, Gen, Mentions of Animal Experimentation - Freeform, Student Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 22:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3225224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meanderingsoul/pseuds/meanderingsoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theta and Koschei would be better explorers if they could navigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mazes in Mazes

It took a while for the shine of new classes to wear off and a different and new kind of boredom to set in, but it did happen and quicker than they had thought it might. Theta and Koschei decided to take advantage of their illicit travel privileges and head down to see the Shobogon for themselves. Older students might have passes to wander the city and they’d overheard murmurs of Shobogon visits, so they knew it was real not just a rumor, but they had no idea how to find the place. The older members of Koschei’s House were far too proper to admit to such activities and those from Theta’s House avoided him.

The first trip out let them exit neatly onto the first sub level below grade with just a shimmer in the stone to mark their reprogramed window portal. They’d wandered for nearly four hours, trying to act mature in case they were seen, but since it was considered polite to pursue less lively activities at night few were in the streets and the few that were remained silent. They never saw a hint of a way below the accepted city and felt lucky to make it back to their portal at all. 

The second trip was just as unsuccessful as the first but they knew their way around much better. The city grids were suspended between spiraling lines of transit tubes at regular intervals and the building were laid out separate from the grid in a rhomboid pattern. The transport tubes were suspended in a coral lattice and barely made more than a subsonic rumble as they went by. The grid hummed underfoot. It looked as if someone had poured a copper substitution alloy in between stones and somehow had the whole system stand up with the only structural assistance being the many sets of stairs. There must be something running through it, some energy or signal they did not understand yet. Despite all the time they spent on grid staircases they did not find a way below the lowest marked sublevel. 

The next trip was more rewarding. They made their way around the outskirts of the grid along the dome edge, from the highest levels back to dim sublevels avoiding the monitored entry and exit points through the dome’s surface. Sometimes they chased each other from level to level on different paths but never too far. It felt silly and young, but it was dim in the city with only the planetary rings for light. Though almost every little room in the towers showed a light the streets were empty. It was almost like being alone, like when they would take Koschei’s little skimmer far out into the woods as children and collect nuts, throw leaves at each other and shriek, bother the Flubbles in the trees to hear them chirrup. 

They were about to head back to sleep when they stumbled across a place still occupied, one of the factories that collected any fibrous organic material and compressed it into the sturdy, suede-like cloth most clothes were made of. It was heavy, flexible, and warm but they’d never given much thought to where it came from. 

They were only too happy to come back later and trade their pale novice robes for something a lot less formal and a couple pandaks to make things even. The older Gallifreyan that made the exchange winked at them and said to head north. They bowed slightly even though as Time Lord Potentials they weren’t expected to bow to any Gallifreyan, even one who must be well into his third century. The man had smiled.

The next week they snuck out and headed north. It felt strange to not be wearing robes and not be naked for the first time in many years. The subdued, off-white of the Basics Academies had been recently replaced by their Chapter colors, but currently they were in neither. The Shobogon was home to both Gallifreyan clans and every nonconforming, drop-out Potential that had been on their way to being Time Lords… and quit without any hope of a Tardis or becoming a Renegade. Down here you rebelled or reveled, grew old, and died; not always in that order. The formality of the city was not expected. So they were dressed in their newest clothes - black trousers and not leggings, loose wrap-around shirts in a very non-Dromian grey instead of robes and under robes. The soft sided boots from the University would have to do for now. Maybe they could find somewhere to get new shoes down here. They were completely ready to finally explore this place for themselves…

… and the first thing they did was get lost.

“Do you have any clue where we are?” Koschei finally asked, kicking a piece of litter down the tunnel ahead of them. The extra staircase had become obvious once they’d known it was there to be seen. Koschei wasn’t sure how that worked. They must have walked by it before but had never noticed it was there. Now they’d been walking in the Shobogon for quite some time, but they must have seen this same set of tunnels four times now. 

“Of course I dooo…”

Koschei fixed him with a glare. His dark blue eyes gaze could often silence others, but had always been useless on Theta.

“We’re in the Shobogon on our way to find dancing, maybe a way to get new shoes.”

“…And I agreed to follow you there and now we’re lost!” Koschei finally snapped.

“Yeah, that’s about it.”

At least Theta had the decency to look contrite.

Koschei sighed. “Come on. We’ll just turn around and…”

But with that motion they found themselves somewhere else entirely.

“And now I follow you and we’re more lost,” Theta remarked as if about the weather and Koschei gaped, mouth hanging open like that of a Singing fish.

“But… what the hell?!”

“It’s a Labyrinth game, which you’d know about if you ever paid attention in Gallifreyan Cultural History.”

“That professor's voice was a potent sedative and you’re a fine one to talk about paying attention. Have you even started a single assignment we’ve been given this week?”

Theta shrugged. “They’re mostly pointless. Anyway, a labyrinth game is a telepathically manipulated maze. They used to be really popular, someone must have left this one here.”

“So that's it? We imagine a door and leave.”

Koschei did so carefully and opened his eyes to see the same white walls he shut them to. Theta was frowning with some puzzlement, as if this was just another game they were playing and no real cause for concern.

“I don’t think it works that way. Someone is supposed to stay outside the game and play against the person inside the maze. But we both went in, so I think this is just like, a waiting area or something. A holding pattern. There’s supposed to be a console outside to enter number of players and such, but I didn’t see one. It must be broken. I wonder how we got inside?” 

Koschei was, as was often the case when talking to Theta, left with the feeling he was missing something dreadfully important. Otherwise insanity could only be the reason for Theta’s cheerfulness right now.

“What you’re saying is, we’re stuck in a broken telepathic maze with no way out? And you’re happy about it? We are both going to starve to death in here.”

“Well, I doubt we’ll be stuck that long! I invented this thing…” He dug into a trouser pocket and the pale skin of his forehead crinkled into a frown. “Well, I think I forgot it in our room.”

Koschei dug his fingers into his temples and shut his eyes. For once, just for once could they try something fun without fucking it up?

“Hey, ‘Schei?”

He glanced up at the hesitant note in Theta’s normally bright voice and saw two doors in the wall, leading into identically white corridors. Theta grinned slowly. He looked slightly unhinged when he did that. It was endearing.

“Which one do you want?”

“Don’t you think we shouldn’t split up? This thing is broken, and if someone is playing against us now, we don’t know who they are.”

“Come on it’s a maze. Never heard of death by maze have you?” Theta grinned back at him teasingly, already backing down his chosen corridor.

“No, but I’m sure with you here it will become possible!”

As usual, Theta ignored his perfectly rational level of anger and frustration. “Come on! I’ll race you through!”

The last Koschei saw of Theta for what felt like a very long time was the flicker of blond ponytail turning a corner.

*

This was turning out to be much more tedious and less threatening than he’d been counting on. Koschei had lost count of the times he’d headed down a possibility of a way out only to turn back, get lost in the white, find another turn, and repeat the process. He couldn’t feel Theta anywhere. It was so quiet in the maze he could hear his hearts thudding in his ears over and over. The hum of the city above them was so very faint.

He was finally deciding maybe he had actually died and gone to some hell for Time Lords too stupid to be stored in the Matrix when one foot smushed into a puddle and it was suddenly much darker. He glanced up from his feet and saw Theta suddenly next to him and instantly grabbed his sleeve, tugging them away from any chance of stumbling back inside. The restoration of empathic contact was a relief. He could tell Theta had been more nervous about the whole thing than he’d been letting on. As usual. 

Theta slung an arm around his waist and sighed. “Well, that was very boring.”

A derisive snort from behind them made them whirl around. The girl they’d seen on Potentiality Day was crouched before a larger puddle, a test tube and small light in her hands and looking very busy. “I have been waiting for over an hour. It should not have taken that long for the pair of you to find your way out of there. I only used the same patterns used on laboratory mice, it really shouldn’t have been that hard for a higher species. You’re lucky I was nearby enough to hear you vanish.”

Theta blinked at her slowly and said nothing. For all Theta’s improbable and captivating charm it was always Koschei who managed to be the polite one.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve formally met.”

They had met the once, but she’d only told them they were idiots and cursed at them and walked away. She capped the test tube and stood, brushing her hands over her knees. She wasn’t in Prydonian robes either, but she certainly hadn’t come down for dancing or other social fun. She was in a simple black robe with a scarf tied over her white hair. She seemed detached somehow. They were all down here for reasons not approved of by the University, and they hadn’t expected to see anyone else in their year, but she didn’t seem to feel any interest in that. Her aura was dull even though they were standing close together. Her eyes were intelligent and bright. It didn’t add up.

She pulled a small pocket watch out of her red leggings and glanced at it, nodding sharply as if it had confirmed something. In the shadows Theta’s hand wriggled into Koschei’s.

“I am of House Arpexia. You may refer to me as Ushas”

She didn’t offer anything more or ask their names, just went back to whatever it was she was doing. Her voice was lower than the standard modulations for female voices, and a little rough. There was some undertone of something in it they recognized, a tension or something else. Whatever reservation Theta must have had suddenly disappeared, for he dropped Koschei’s hand and walked closer to Ushas, peering over her head.

“What are you looking for?” He asked.

Koschei winced internally, but noticed the tiny scanner in her hands as he moved closer. The display showed outlines of the tunnels faintly and he thought he saw where they’d taken their wrong turn. There were spots of varying brightness in no particular interval. She was looking for something. 

She glanced up at both of them, an eyebrow raised, and said nothing. Theta missed every invisible signal of go-away-now and focused in on the scanner.

“I think I recognize that one! It should be back there a bit.” Theta motioned back the way they had come and took off, boots slapping on the old cobblestones.

“Thete!” Koschei hissed, reaching a point far beyond exasperation. He ran after him and a glance back showed Ushas was following them both. It was too soon to know what to think about that. Something was off about her aura. He tried to keep that he noticed something to himself, despite their minimal ability to shield. It wouldn’t be prudent to let her know he was suspicious. 

Theta stopped still up ahead and dropped into a crouch, reaching for something on the ground. Koschei stopped next to him, Ushas close behind. The thing squirmed when Theta grasped it.

“What is it?”

“It’s just a kitten! I thought I had it right. Wonder who left it down here, it’s just a baby.” Theta cupped it into his hands. It couldn’t be more than a few weeks old, with tiny ears and wide gold eyes. It looked to be dark-colored but it was hard to tell in the muck and gloom. These tunnels were not cleaned like the city sublevels above. 

Ushas slowly crouched down next to Theta slowly. They’d forgotten she was there.

“May I see it?” Her aura was still off, too flat, but her voice seemed excited somehow. Theta’s reservations seemed to have returned because he held the kitten closer to his chest.

“Why? Is it yours that you’ve lost? Or is there something you’re trying to do with it?”

She blinked, as surprised by Theta’s change in tone as Koschei was. He’d known Theta for years and had never heard that voice. There was something immobile and resolute in it, so unlike his flighty and brilliant friend. It made him shiver. 

Ushas sighed. “I need it for a laboratory experiment. It has to be a complex mammalian creature and the serum has a time limit before it becomes ineffective, so if you don’t mind?” She held out a hand and Theta shook his head.

“No! It’s just a baby kitten, what can possibly be that important right now that you can’t run a simulation properly? If you knew the likely outcomes of the experiment and its applications the University would have provided a laboratory specimen for you. So this isn’t approved. And isn’t likely to be. I’m sorry but no.”

There was a pause and then they all seemed to leap to their feet at the same moment. Ushas was glaring as if about to snarl. Theta stood his ground, chin up and brown eyes nearly black. Koschei decided at that moment that the coldly furious expression on Theta’s face was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

Ushas broke the stalemate, turning away with a furious huff. “Of course it’s important! Do you think I’d waste my time on something with no purpose or application? And what could possibly give a pair of wasteful, shallow fools like you the right to decide? As if you’re down here because you agree with University policies. Should have left you both in that maze to go mad for a thousand years!”

She disappeared around a corner and they were left with silence. Just ahead of them in the corridor was the red sign for exit fifteen, the way they’d come in. It must have been there the entire time. The silence was broken by a tiny mew.

They walked towards the exit in unspoken agreement. It was only four hours till the morning meal and the night had not gone as planned. They could feel they were both tired. Theta kept the kitten balanced against his chest as they walked. Koschei’s curiosity got the better of him by the second sub level up.

“Why did you care so much?” he asked motioning towards the cat in Theta’s arms.

“That’s exactly it. Because she didn’t care at all.” Theta leaned against the wall with their portal to look at him, one finger stroking over the kittens tiny head, and Koschei suddenly couldn’t stand the darkness in his brown eyes. It might be beautiful, but that’s not who Theta was.

“I understand.” he said, and Theta smiled just a little. “What are you going to do with it?” They could let it go up here where someone would likely come across it eventually, but Theta’s gaze turned hopeful. Koschei sighed on this inside.

“We could keep it? We have the space.”

Theta beamed.

**Author's Note:**

> All my descriptions of Gallifrey's Citadel and its design are my own designs from the images seen in New Who. They are not canon in any way, beyond the fact that the dome exists. If you have any questions about why I described anything a certain way I'd love to talk about it! 
> 
> Next part next Saturday. Thanks!


End file.
